BAREILLY: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Samajwadi Party-backed candidate Ritu Singh and her proposer Anita Yadav who were assaulted allegedly by BJP workers during the nomination for panchayat block chief elections in Kheri district recently.
Talking to reporters after meeting Ritu, the Congress leader said, “It was her constitutional right to contest the election. It has been snatched from her. The police circle officer who tried to save her was suspended, but there was no action against the officials who remained a mute spectator. Why didn’t re-election happen in the block? Doesn’t she [Ritu Singh] have the right to contest an election?”
Priyanka, who is currently in UP to strategise ahead of next year’s assembly polls, said, “The culprits should be punished irrespective of their political affiliations. Police and administration should investigate the matter properly and take corrective measures.”
Five cops, including two inspectors, were suspended by Kheri SSP while the decision of the suspension of the circle officer came from Lucknow.
The Returning Officer (RO) on duty at the block was also transferred to another district and repeated requests of the SP-backed candidate for a re-poll were turned down by the district administration. A candidate close to a senior member of the BJP won unopposed and the winner's certificate has been handed over to her.
When asked how she felt about a Congress leader coming to meet her, Ritu Singh told TOI, “A woman came to support women and she treated us like sisters. She has assured us that she will fight for our justice and take this issue with the Election Commission for ensuring re-poll. Our sympathy is with the policemen who were made ‘scapegoats’ by the government and no action has been taken against the real culprits.”
Three separate videos of the incident surfaced on social media. In one of the videos, Ritu and her proposer Anita Yadav were intercepted by a crowd of alleged BJP workers who yanked her sari. The second video was even more disturbing: a cop (the circle officer) can be seen trying to save Ritu Singh from rival party workers who were manhandling her and trying to push her out of the nomination room. In the third clip, a senior ruling party member can be heard purportedly saying, “No one should enter the nomination room.”
Ritu Singh has demanded a re-poll at Pasgawan block.
The FIR in this case was registered late on July 8 in which Yash Verma, Brij Kishore and several unidentified BJP workers were booked under sections 147 (rioting), 171-F (undue influence or personation at an election), 354 (attempting to outrage the modesty of a woman), 392 (robbery) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of IPC. Overall three accused have been arrested, including those named and all of them are connected with BJP.
Additional SP Arun Kumar Singh told TOI, “The investigation in the Pasgawan incident is on and we have already sent three persons to jail so far. The viral videos have been included in the investigation and the statement of the two women has also been recorded by the investigation team.”
